Moonlight Lighting

[MarkW19]

Having only a 40cm wide open-top tank, there unfortunately aren't any over-tank lights that small available in the UK, particularly with actinic lighting.

When I get my corals in a few months, I'd like them to fluoresce in actinic or moonlight lighting, (I'll be having the moonlights on for an hour before and after the main white lights), so my question is: I've seen a lot of moonlight LED kits on eBay, that claim to make corals fluoresce under their light. One of these kits would be ideal as I can fix them somehow to my current lights.

What is the difference between these moonlight LEDs, and actual actinic tubes? Obviously, the actinics will be brighter, but all I want them for is to make my corals fluoresce. My tank is only a 10G nano, so hopefully the lack of brightness of these LEDs won't make much difference.

Any advice?

 

[lando]

Actinic lighting is really only used to suppliment daytime or "white" lighting. The actinics help to round out the higher or "blue end of the spectrum so your overall lighting is more visually appealing. Actinic bulbs do not contribute a whole lot to the lighting needs of corals, as most corals prefer whiter light (in the 5500K-10000K range) for best growth. This is not to say actinics are not important, just not as much as the daylight lamps. Most people (including myself) set our actinics to come on an hour before and turn off an hour after the daylights come on.

Moonlight LED's are an entirely different animal. These serve no real purpose other then to cast a faint patchy glow into the tank overnight. Manufactures claim they are good for nocturnal animals and may play a role in mating...I just think they look nice.

If you are asking for advice on one vs. the other then I would say go for the actinics. However, LED lights are very inexpensive and there is no reason you can not use both.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree with lando.

While some of the stronger blue LED "moonlights" will show some coral's fluorescent colors by themselves, I think what you're looking for are actinics. I have both daylight (10k) and actinic bulbs and amazed at how drab and dreary the colors look if I just turn on the daylight bulbs. The actinics really make the colors "pop".

I have both actinics and LED moonlights and run the actinics as lando mentioned. I run the LED moonlights 24 hours a day, just so it's one less thing I have to time.

 

[MarkW19]

Thanks for the help guys. If I could find a 15" actinic tube, I'd use that. But they all seem to start at at least 18", which is wider than my actual tank! I wouldn't mind a whole new light fixture, over-the-tank, with one white tube (15") and one actinic, both on seperate timers, but they don't seem to exist this small!

My light isn't exactly bright white, it's a "tropical" light, so kind of has a blue hue to it anyway. The only reason I want some additional actinic or moonlighting is so that I can see my corals fluoresce. Will any of the Moonlight LED kits on eBay do this do you think?

 

[cmor1701d]

What lighting do you have now?
How many watts?
What kind of bulb?

Corals tend to need a lot of light though there are some low light varieties.

 

[MarkW19]

33w flourescent (3 x 11w over-tank lights). I'll be going for corals that will be ok with that amount of light.

I'd ideally like more, but I seem to be limited by the amount of decent over-tank lights that are suitable sized (my tank is only a 10G nano, 40cm wide).

 

[newfound77951]

The only reason I want some additional actinic or moonlighting is so that I can see my corals fluoresce. Will any of the Moonlight LED kits on eBay do this do you think?

Again, no....the moonlights won't really make the corals fluoresce. But they are cool....I have some on my tank, it makes a great night light, and you see some really weird stuff in there at 3AM!

 

[MarkW19]

The only reason I want some additional actinic or moonlighting is so that I can see my corals fluoresce. Will any of the Moonlight LED kits on eBay do this do you think?

Again, no....the moonlights won't really make the corals fluoresce. But they are cool....I have some on my tank, it makes a great night light, and you see some really weird stuff in there at 3AM!

Aww, the eBay pages say they do But I thought as much. That's the only reason I want them really! So if I want my corals to fluoresce, I'm better finding a small actinic tube from somewhere if I can?

What sort of stuff do you see?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

eBay sellers say alot of things!

But seriously, they're not totally misrepresenting them. Some corals (and I stress some) will glow a bit (and I stress a BIT) under the LED moonlighting. My platygyra does, for example. Not much, but it does.

However, I think what you want to see are those eye popping colors you see in all the pictures. That degree of fluorescence will only come from the actinics.

Now if you're talking higher power blue LEDs, and not moonlights, that could be a different story again. I was shining one of those little blue LED lights you get free from folks to put on your key chain in my tank the other night. I was seeing things glow that I normally don't see glow! For example, my little nuisance hydroid colony was actually glowing very green. Sure made it easy to spot!

But again, I think what is really going to make you happiest is actinics - if you can find a good size for your tank.

 

[SparKy697]

MarkW19,

Check this site and see if you can find something that suits you. It's kind of a DIY site, but they do sell enclosures too.

 

[MarkW19]

Thanks guys, you've been really helpful. I'll keep an eye out for a decent sized actinic solution, and I'll check out that site now Sparky.

EDIT: I may have found something, from Interpet. They do a range of 12" long T5 compact tubes, in white and deep blue/actinic. I may get 2 whites and 1 actinic (white/actinic in the middle/white) which are 24w each; this would give me a total of 72w. What sort of corals/clams could I keep with this amount of lighting in my 10G nano (and low-medium waterflow)?

What does anyone think? :-

http://www.aquatics-direct.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=2372&categoryID=345

http://www.urmstonaquatics.com/t5compactlighttu.html

 

[melosu58]

From what I understand the blue spectrum of light is what reaches the corals as the sunlight travels through the water. Here is a good example of the green glow you get from the actinics. I use 2 50/50 and 2 super actinics. You can see it in the finger leather.

 

[MarkW19]

Well, I seem to have found a pretty good solution. I've got 2 of the 11w over-tank lights that I like, in white, and I just bought a 3rd one, and I bought a 9w actinic lamp from eBay in the US, and it works nicely in it.

So, I have 3 lights, 2 11w whites, and then the 9w actinic in the middle, creating 31w in total.

I'm having the actinic on all day (11 hours), with it on by itself for an hour each side.